The invention relates generally to clocks and alarm clocks. These devices are typically employed by a user to assist them in determining the current time. Also, alarm clocks are used to alert a person when a given pre-set alarm time is now the current time. This is commonly used to assist a person in waking up for work or an appointment. For example, if the time is currently 10:00 pm and the user wishes to awake at 7:00 am the next day, they use an alarm clock to alert them when 7:00 am the next morning arrives. The alarm clock is set to the desired alarm time, e.g. 7:00 am, the night before so the alarm timely goes off.
In the prior art, alarm clocks are very well known. These devices are either mechanical or electronic in nature. In the example of a mechanical alarm clock, a mechanical time keeping mechanism with gears and springs are employed to keep time. Winding the clock or electrical power maintains the time keeping mechanism moving to, in turn, keep the time accurate and current. In a mechanical alarm clock, a hammer and bell are typically actuated at the alarm event to wake the user by a loud bell ringing sound.
In the case of electronic clocks, time keeping and alarms are similarly carried out. However, the time keeping and alarm setting are electronic in nature rather than mechanical. For example, a solid state clock, powered by batteries or AC power, enables accurate time keeping and alarm event triggering because the exact times can be set with precision, such as to the minute. Typical electronic alarm clocks sound a buzzer or beeper at the time of the alarm event at time of the user's choosing.
Despite the foregoing attempts in the prior to alert a user of the an alarm event time, audible sound alarm are frequently inadequate for effectively alerting the user to the alarm event, particularly if they are using the alarm clock to wake them out of deep sleep where they may be apt to do whatever is necessary to silence the audible alarm. In summary, these known audible alarm clocks are much too easy to turn off. For example, a user can simply reach over to their alarm clock on their nightstand from the comfort of their bed and depress an alarm shut off button to fully silence the alarm without ever really waking up when they want. This increases the risk that the person might sleep completely through their alarm as this routine does not require them to fully awaken nor open their eyes much. Also, a user can repeatedly hit a “snooze” button on the alarm clock to delay the alarm for a certain amount of time, such as 10 minutes, which lead to bad habits of waking up later than you intended.
There has been a number of attempts in the prior art to address these problems with prior art alarm clocks. There are various prior art alarm clocks that also include some type of vibration mechanism that can be actuated with or without the audible alarm sound. For example, an alarm clock, that can fit in a users pocket, can be provided with a vibration mechanism that actuates at the alarm time without an audible alarm so that a user can be silently alerted to an alarm time. These alarm clocks can also be provided with structures that fit under a pillow, or the like, to silently alert the user when it is time to wake up. In general, these vibrating alarm clocks are intended to be in a fixed location to silently alert the user of an alarm time.
Even though these prior art alarm clocks vibrate, they are still very easy to turn off by the user because they stay fixed in a single location. As a result, they are very easy to locate and handle by the user which enables the user to easily turn them off in similar fashion to an alarm clock with a simple audible alarm.
Still further, there have been attempts in the prior art to provide an alarm clock that moves from one location to another to makes it difficult for the user to easily turn it off to prevent them from sleeping through their alarm. For example, such a clock can include wheels to cause the alarm clock to roll away, off of the user's nightstand for example, to a location remote therefrom. In this prior art device, the alarm clock remains still and in a fixed location when the audible alarm goes off. However, if the “snooze” button is depressed, the entire alarm clock will roll away off of the nightstand until it hits a barrier, such as a wall. When the end of the “snooze” period is over, the user will have to find the device and then turn off the alarm. When the user finds this prior art device, it is essentially still with the exception that the wheels may still be rotating. If the alarm is immediately shut off, the audible alarm is silenced and the alarm clock will not move any further. Since this device is still when the alarm sounds and picked up by a user, it is very easy to turn off.
The foregoing prior art suffers from many problems. For example, prior art alarm clocks are too easy to turn off because they are easy to locate. The addition of vibration is for use as a silent alarm not for making it more difficult to turn off the alarm by the user. Rolling alarm clocks are similarly inferior because the alarm clock device is easy to retrieve, locate and hold by the user making it very easy to turn off the alarm.
In view of the foregoing, there is a demand for an alarm clock that is superior to currently available alarm clocks. There is a demand for an alarm clock that is more effective in waking up a user than prior art alarm clocks. There is a demand for an alarm clock fully awakens a person before they can turn them off. There is a demand for an alarm clock that engages a person to interact more to awaken them even more. There is yet another demand to provide an alarm clock that moves vigorously when an alarm event occurs to encourage the user to wake up. There is another demand for an alarm clock that can simultaneously sound an audible alarm and move about a user's environment to more effectively wake the user up. There is a demand for an alarm clock that shakes the user awake upon an alarm event.